Page 115 of You Fall First

Empty theater or not, this is precious, and a slow smile spreads across my face.

Kendal’s kids each have baby books stuffed with details about the big moments in their lives. First steps. First haircuts. First teeth. I used to tease her that she probably recorded the first time each one of them burped.

But watching Dutton now, I get it.

Firsts like this are, in fact, pretty magical. His eyes are lit up, and he’s observing everything with wonder. My heart squeezes for Paige, who’s missing this moment. She’ll be here soon enough, but to do that, she has to leave behind her hometown. Her best friend. The house where she brought Dutton home from the hospital. The place where both her parents are buried.

I can’t imagine that, honestly.

Pulling my phone from my purse, I take a couple of pictures to send her, in case she wants photo evidence. Then I dig a pouch of apple juice out of my bag for Dutton.

“Here you go, bud.” I slip the plastic off the straw, pierce the hole for him, and hand over the pouch.

“Thank you,” he gargles, already slurping his juice. At the same time, Noah reappears, maneuvering toward us down the aisle. He’s got two large sodas and a giant buttered popcorn wedged in a cardboard carrier. He sets the carrier down and drops into the empty seat on Dutton’s other side.

“Link and Hadley got caught on a call with his agent,” he says. “They’ll be here soon, but they don’t want to hold up the staff, so they’re having them start the movie now.”

“Stuck on a call with an agent?” I quirk a brow.

“Yeah.” He smirks. “Celebrity life is pretty brutal. Did you see the text Dex just sent?”

“No. What’s up?”

“Sayla’s got an upset stomach. She can’t do the movies today.”

“Oh, no. Poor thing,” I say, flashing back to the puke on my shoes. “You think Dex will still rally?”

“Your brother’s not going to leave his wife if she’s sick.”

Of course he’s right, especially since I happen to know Sayla’s not just regular sick.

She’s pregnant sick.

Noah has no idea, though. And the fact that he’s thinking about how a good husband would behave—under any circumstance—makes him even more attractive. Like I needed extra ammunition.

As if on cue, my phone buzzes with a new text from Sayla, just to me, off the group thread.

Sayla:

“I hope Sayla didn’t eat something bad at the rehearsal dinner,” Noah grunts. “Because in that case, we all did.”

I wrinkle my nose. “I’m sure it wasn’t the food.”

“Really?” Noah snarks. “You don’t think the chef's capable of accidentally poisoning us?”

“Good juice,” Dutton blurts, wiping his mouth and letting out an exaggerated “ahhhh.”

Noah’s mouth goes crooked, and our gazes meet. The light of the movie screen reflects in his dark eyes, raising goose bumps on my arms.

And here I go, circling back to the feeling of being in his arms last night. Fake kiss or not, his lips were flat-out delicious. So it’s a good thing we have an entire preschooler between us now, otherwise …

Otherwise, nothing, Jo.

New rule: No imagining real make-outs with Noah Stadler.

Five minutes after the movie starts, Link and Hadley show up, waving and whispering their apologies before slipping into the row in front of us. I may never get over how normal these two seem when they’re one of the most famous couples in the world.

Six minutes later, Dutton needs to go to the bathroom. Noah takes him, while I work on not wanting to kiss Noah.